All companies start out as private enterprises. That means there are only a handful of shareholders in the firm, and sometimes just one. But at some point, the company's owners might decide to 'go public', and put their shares up for sale on a public exchange for anyone to buy.

There are all sorts of reasons for going public. One of the biggest is to raise capital for the firm. But sometimes publicly-traded companies decide that they don't like the limelight after all, and they decide to take their company private once more. Again, there are all sorts of reasons for making a move like this. One of the biggest reason is ... control.

Imagine you could call up a friend and say, "Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy." Now imagine that's actually a fun evening. That's what we're going for at Planet Money. Want to know more? Check out our "about" page. Want to connect with the Planet Money team? Send us an email.